few thoughts on VAR

The issues with VAR can be split into 3 sections:
Technology
Rules
Officials

Technology
Why don’t we get to see a clear close up of the relevant body part at the exact millisecond that the ball is kicked showing which part is offside (together with a wide angle of the ball being kicked and the offside player and then a close up showing that exact moment) .
Using a picture at an angle leave us not trusting the picture, there should be cameras along the touchline or a camera that tracks the second last player ( like in a 100 metre race) so the picture is 90 degrees on ( like a cycling finish line – never a controversy over very small winning margins at 40 mph )
What is the frame rate, needs to be say 100 frame s a second to be accurate. What is the definition? Needed minimum of ultra HD perhaps even higher bearing in mind the distance from camera .
If the authorities want to use fraction of a mm then the technology must be able to show that - We don’t see in sprint races a picture from a poor resolution camera from 100 yards away running at 26 FPS decide who wins.
Would it be possible to have sensors on the players (what do the use to say of ball is over the line? That is automatic and give Ref instant advice)

Rules
When they are claiming to be able to detect exactly ( and therefore to part of a millimetre) an offside we need to know exactly what part of a body is offside so why they have not stated exactly what part of an arm /shoulder is deemed offside – where does the arm start and the body end? ( you don’t get a 100m sprint race decided by 0.5 of a mm and then say the finish line is somewhere between 99.05 and 100.95 metres from the start line) .Do the rules state the exact part of the body that can/cannot touch the ball (to the nearest 0.1 millimetre). Should players wear tight shirts with what point marked on ? or perhaps sleeveless shirts with a tattooed line!! We don’t get a land speed record measured to 0 .0005 of a second then round it to the nearest minute to see if it is a new record.

At what point is the ball deemed to be kicked – when the foot starts contact the ball or when the ball leaves the foot? As the rules seem to say they can decide to a fraction of a millimetre an offside the they should be able to determine this.

How thick are the lines used to determine offside ? making a line wider can make a player offside or onside.

Why are only somethings looked at, why not freekicks and general play, Just maybe Kane would have been judged offside (perhaps just .5 mm?) before Lewis handled the ball and was Lewis tripped/pushed by Kane ( he certainly was off balance which is unusual on a flat pitch) , maybe another angle would have shown that. Of course had he not been offside or knocked Lewis then that would be proved. If Lewis had been in the area VAR would have looked at the incident but would it have gone back to the possible offside?

IN addition to free kicks should, diving, elbows and overreacting also be looked at? Also where freekicks and throw ins are taken from. If VAR is pedantic on say .5mm offside then why not be pedantic on where a throw in is taken from or a freekick, we know every plays throws the ball forward to take a freekick ( even Norwich players!) And then also being pedantic why is VAR not used to measure exactly ( to 0.5 mm) 10 yard from the freekick to the wall. That would mean the ref using a ruler and compass to mark a spray line.

Do the rules need changing to specify that for example only a foot for each player ( defending and attacking) is used to determine offside. That would be easier to determine. Mind you that penalises someone with a bigger foot! And then what happens if the is a spot of mud on the boot, is that mud offside !!!

Clear and obvious error> On Goals on Sunday Chris Kamara read from the guide he was given saying only clear and obvious errors would be overturned. How is potentially missing in a fraction of a second from 50 yards away a player possibly being offside by .5 mm a clear and obvious error? Missing the dele Ali offside goal when 80% of his body offside would have been a clear and obvious error.

In a court of law in UK you are innocent until proven guilty any doubt results in not guilty, in VAR you are guilty unless you can 100% prove innocent

Encroachment at penalties, now VAR claims to be 100% accurate then EVERY player except the taker and keeper must be outside the box ( or is that just parts of the body that can touch the ball legally).the rule could allow a scored penalty to stand if a defender is in box or scored goal disallowed if an attacker is in the box (not retaken but a goal kick).

Officials

They use premier league refs, Saturday’s VAR ref was criticised by Farke for an error on the throw in and he decided by a fraction of an inch Pukki is offside ( coincidence or conspiracy?). Mau united , the VAR official wrongly gave a penalty ( this has been stated by the VAR panel to be a wrong decision), and the second was very harsh – I know they did not score but that set the tone for defending as Norwich where then reluctant to tackle in the same way again.

With the technology they could use a 12 year old to draw lines! And leave the other decisions to a panel of quailed people who are not used as on pitch referees.

Why is only one official used maybe there should be 3 (maybe the man u penalty would not have been given).

Conclusion. VAR should have been a brilliant addition to the game to stop cheating and make sure rules were being followed. Instead it has been used to destroy the game. How many VAR decisions have gone in favour of Norwich?

Posted By: Kar1, Dec 30, 11:44:59